Auctioning for content on demand asset insertion

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods presented herein provide for Content On Demand (COD) asset insertion. A COD asset insertion decision system (CODAID) is communicatively coupled to a content distributer to process information about COD content selections by Customer Premises Equipment (CPEs). An auction system is communicatively coupled to the CODAID and to a plurality of asset providers to process information about assets of the providers, to provide an auction for asset opportunities in the COD content selections, to receive bids for the asset opportunities, and to rank the auctioned assets according to bid. The CODAID further ranks the auctioned assets based in part on the COD content selection information and the asset information, identifies one or more of the further ranked assets for insertion into the COD content selection, and directs the content distributer to insert the identified one or more further ranked assets into the COD content selection.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application is a continuation application claiming priorityto commonly owned and co-pending patent application Ser. No. 16/168,710(filed Oct. 23, 2018), the entire contents of which are incorporated byreference. This patent application is also related to U.S. Pat. No.9,860,577 (issued Jan. 2, 2018), the entire contents of which are alsoincorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to the field of Content On Demand (COD) systemsand more specifically to the auctioning and insertion of assets, such asadvertisements, into COD content.

BACKGROUND

Television networks, such as the American Broadcasting Company (ABC),the Columbia Broadcasting Company (CBS), and the National BroadcastingCompany (NBC), have for years broadcast television shows to the massesas a means for generating revenue through advertising. For example,these networks produce television shows and then seek out sponsors toadvertise on the shows. The television shows, or “content”, havedesignated timeslots in which the sponsors' advertisements, or “assets”,are inserted. The content and the inserted assets are then broadcast bythe television networks, or “content providers”, to the public overfederally licensed communication airways, occasionally referred to aslinear video distribution.

This “shotgun” approach to advertising proved to be very successful inthe beginning. However, as the number of advertisers wishing to selltheir goods and services substantially increased, television evolvedinto a much more complex system of communications. For example, cabletelevision providers and satellite television providers now serve asintermediary “content distributors” between the content providers andthe intended public audience. And, the number of content providers hasincreased accordingly. In this regard, many members of the generalpublic have signed on as customers of the cable/satellite contentdistributors so as to receive a broader availability of content.

Because the market for content consumption has grown, the number ofcontent distributors has also grown. And, because each of theseproviders has its own method of content delivery, the manner in whichthe content and assets are delivered to the customers has becomeincreasingly complex. Generally, the content providers deliver thecontent to the content distributors with instructions to insert variousnational assets into the content at certain times. For example, if acompany wishes to run a national advertisement campaign targeting acertain television show associated with a particular demographic, thecompany may purchase one or more timeslots, or “placementopportunities”, within that television show from the content provider toair assets advertising the goods and services of the company. Thecontent provider then provides the content to each of the contentdistributors with directions to insert the assets within the timeslotspurchased by the company.

The content distributors may also have certain timeslots available forinserting certain local assets. For example, a content distributor mayhave “headends” configured in various communities to distribute contentto their customers located therein. Each headend receives content fromthe content providers with various designated timeslots for insertingassets into the content. Some of those timeslots may be designated forlocal ads where companies within the service area of the headend wish toadvertise. These companies purchase those timeslots from the contentdistributor for insertion of their assets to expose the customers totheir advertising at the more local level.

As complex as the cable/satellite television has become, certain deviceshave come along to change and/or circumvent these forms of marketingaltogether. The digital recorder, such as that produced by Tivo, is oneexample of a means for avoiding the asset insertions of marketingstrategists. With the digital recorder, the content distributors'customers are able to digitally record entire episodes of content andview that content at their leisure, as opposed to a time established bythe content providers. However, these customers can also use the digitalrecorders to fast-forward or skip through the assets without viewingthem, much to the dismay of the asset owners.

In response, content distributors started providing content on a“Content On Demand” (COD) basis, sometimes referred to as nonlinearvideo distribution. In COD, the content provider delivers the content tothe content distributor which in turn maintains the content forsubsequent and individual distribution to their customers. Thus, acustomer may select a desired content through a set-top box (STB) orother device and watch that content at the customer's leisure. This CODcontent is also typically configured with timeslots where assets may beinserted. However, marketing strategists have not been able to determinethe effectiveness of asset insertion in COD content.

SUMMARY

Systems and methods presented herein provide for insertion of assetsinto selected COD content. In one embodiment, a system includes aContent On Demand (COD) asset insertion decision system communicativelycoupled to a content distributer and operable to process information,from the content distributer, about COD content selections by CustomerPremises Equipment (CPEs). The broader system also includes an auctionsystem communicatively coupled to the COD asset insertion decisionsystem and to a plurality of asset providers to process informationabout assets of the asset providers. The auction system is operable toprovide an auction for asset opportunities in the COD contentselections, to receive bids for the asset opportunities, and to rank theauctioned assets according to bid. The COD asset insertion decisionsystem is operable to further rank the auctioned assets based in part onthe COD content selection information and the asset information, toidentify one or more of the further ranked assets for insertion into theCOD content selection, and to direct the content distributer to insertthe identified one or more further ranked assets into the COD contentselection.

The various embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented in a varietyof ways as a matter of design choice. For example, the embodiments maytake the form of physical machines, computer hardware, software,firmware, or combinations thereof. In one embodiment, a computerreadable medium is operable to store software instructions for directingthe asset insertion into content. These software instructions areconfigured so as to direct a processor or some other processing systemto operate in the manner described above.

Other exemplary embodiments are described below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Some embodiments of the present invention are now described, by way ofexample only, and with reference to the accompanying drawings. The samereference number represents the same element or the same type of elementon all drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary COD asset insertion decisionsystem and an auction system operable with a content distributer.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a process operable with the systems of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is another block diagram of the COD asset insertion decision andauction systems operable with a headend as the content distributer.

FIG. 4 is an exemplary timing diagram of content interlaced with assettimeslots.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of COD asset insertion decision and auctionsystems' exemplary interaction with asset providers.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an exemplary COD asset insertion decisionsystem.

FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary message diagram of the COD assetinsertion decision.

FIG. 8 is an exemplary flowchart of an Asset Qualification Module (AQM)within a COD asset insertion decision system.

FIG. 9 is an exemplary message diagram of the AQM.

FIGS. 10-11 are also exemplary flowcharts of the AQM.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of an exemplary Asset Ranking Module (ARM)within a COD asset insertion decision system.

FIGS. 13 and 14 are exemplary flowcharts of an Asset Conflict ResolutionModule (ACRM) within a COD asset insertion decision system.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram of an exemplary processing system operable toimplement a COD asset insertion decision system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The figures and the following description illustrate specific exemplaryembodiments of the invention. It will thus be appreciated that thoseskilled in the art will be able to devise various arrangements that,although not explicitly described or shown herein, embody the principlesof the invention and are included within the scope of the invention.Furthermore, any examples described herein are intended to aid inunderstanding the principles of the invention, and are to be construedas being without limitation to such specifically recited examples andconditions. As a result, the invention is not limited to the specificembodiments or examples described below.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary COD asset insertion decisionsystem 101 and an auction system 109 operable with a content distributer108, such as a cable or satellite television provider. The COD assetinsertion decision system 101 is communicatively coupled to the contentdistributor 108 to receive information about COD content selectionsbound for CPEs, such as the CPE 107. The auction system 109 performs anauction for asset placement opportunities such that asset providers130-1-130-n can bid to insert assets (e.g., advertisements, marketingmaterials, etc.) of their various campaigns 131 in the COD contentselected by a CPE 107. For example, the COD asset insertion decisionsystem 101 may receive information from the COD system 103 about a CODcontent selection being delivered to the CPE 107. This information mayinclude a title of the COD content selection, a maturity level of theCOD content selection, a time of day, etc. The COD asset insertiondecision system 101 may process this information and deliver it to theauction system 109 such that the auction system 109 can generate anauction for asset placement opportunities in the COD content selectionfor a plurality of asset providers 130-1-130-n (where “n” is merelyintended to represent an integer greater than 1 and not necessarilyequal to any other “n” reference number shown and described herein). Inthis regard, the auction system 109 may receive bids from the assetproviders to insert their assets into the COD content selection.

The auction system 109 then selects the winning bids for the assetinsertions such that the COD asset insertion decision system 101 canrank the winning bids and potentially exclude some winning bids based onconflicts between campaigns 131 of certain asset providers 130. Forexample, the COD asset insertion decision system 101 interacts withcampaigns 131 of asset providers 130 to examine potential conflictsbetween assets and then rank the assets to provide value to contentproviders (e.g., owners of COD content selected by a CPE 107). The CODasset insertion decision system 101 then directs a content distributor108 to insert the ranked assets into COD content.

Alternatively, the COD asset insertion decision system 101 may receiveinformation from the content distributor 108 pertaining to a specificcontent that could be selected by one or more CPEs 107. For example, theCOD asset insertion decision system 101 may receive information from theCOD system 103 about a particular television program that could bedelivered to any number of CPEs 107. Based on television programinformation, such as title, actors, maturity level, etc., the COD assetinsertion decision system 101 may process this information and deliverit to the auction system 109 such that the auction system 109 cangenerate an auction for the asset providers 130 any time that particularcontent is selected. From there, the auction system 109 receives bidsfor placement of the assets in asset opportunities of that particularCOD content and delivers the winning bids to the COD asset insertiondecision system 101. The COD asset insertion decision system 101 maythen rank/exclude the winning bids for insertion of the assets into theCOD content when it is selected by a CPE 107. Based on the foregoing,the auction system 109 is any device, system, software, or combinationthereof operable to communicate with a COD asset insertion decisionsystem to provide an auction for asset placement opportunities in CODcontent selections.

The COD asset insertion decision system 101 is any system, device,software, or combination thereof operable to interface with a pluralityof asset providers 130 to process information about assets (e.g.,advertisements, marketing materials, etc.) of the asset providers 130such that the COD asset insertion decision system 101 can direct thecontent distributor 108 to insert assets from the asset providers 130into COD content selected by a CPE 107. For example, the contentdistributor 108 may have access to content from a plurality of contentproviders (described in greater detail below) that the contentdistributor 108 provides to its customers via their respective CPEs 107.In this regard, the content distributor 108 may include a COD system 103that retrieves stored content for presentation to a CPE 107 whenselected by a user of the CPE 107. The content distributor 108 may alsohave access to assets that are to be inserted into asset placementtimeslots (i.e., asset placement opportunities) within the content. TheCOD asset insertion decision system 101, being operable to provide valueto the content providers, coordinates with campaigns of the assetproviders 130 to extract value for the content providers. In thisregard, the COD asset insertion decision system 101 may rank the assetsof the asset providers 130 in a manner that provides the most value tothe content providers.

While the COD asset insertion decision system 101 is operable to providevalue to the content providers, the COD asset insertion decision system101 is also operable to interact and cooperate with the asset providers130. For example, asset providers often have campaigns 131 comprisingone or more assets directed towards particular demographics, marketingneeds, etc. Accordingly, the COD asset insertion decision system 101operates to meet the requirements of the campaigns 131 of the assetproviders 130 in conjunction with providing value to the contentproviders. In this regard, the COD asset insertion decision system 101processes information pertaining to the campaigns 131 of the assetproviders 130 so as to ensure that certain assets do not conflict withone another (e.g., a Coca-Cola campaign may wish to prevent assetinsertion of a Coca-Cola advertisement proximate to a Pepsi-Colaadvertisement in a particular content, and vice versa). Once theranking/exclusion process for the auctioned asset placementopportunities is complete, the COD asset insertion decision system 101directs the COD system 103 of the content distributor 108 to insert theassets into COD content selected by the CPE 107.

The auction system 109 may be operable to implement the auction in anumber of ways subject to design choice (e.g., a primary Englishauction, a primary Dutch auction, a secondary all pay auction, asecondary combinatorial auction, etc.). In any case, the auction system109 generally receives bids from the asset providers 130 and thendetermines which of the bids provides a desirable value to the contentprovider. This often means that the highest bid for the asset placementopportunity wins but the auction system 109 may also distinguish winningbids based on other features (e.g., desire of a content provider to workwith a particular asset provider 130, an asset deemed inappropriate fora particular content selection by the content provider, etc.).Accordingly, the auction system 109 is not intended to be limited to anyparticular form of auctioning. Instead, the auction system 109 is merelydescribed herein as being operable to provide an auction system inconjunction with a COD asset insertion decision system. Additionaldetails regarding this implementation are shown and described in FIG. 5.

Although shown and described with respect to the content distributor 108being communicatively coupled to a single CPE 107, the invention is notintended to be so limited. Generally, the content distributor 108 iscommunicatively coupled to many CPEs 107, potentially hundreds ofthousands of CPEs 107. For example, the content distributor 108 may be aheadend of a cable television provider that distributes content fromcontent providers to numerous customers of the cable televisionprovider. Additional details of such are shown and described below inFIG. 3.

The CPE 107, in one embodiment, is a set-top box operable to communicatewith the headend. Alternatively, the CPU 107 can be a computer or amobile computing device capable of displaying video from the network 222(e.g., via streaming video over the Internet). For example, a CPE 107may select a desired content from an Internet website hosted with theserver 230 through the network 222. Once selected, the COD 103 mayretrieve the content from the content database 104 for Internet deliveryto the selecting CPE 107. The COD asset insertion decision system 101,being communicatively coupled to the COD 103, processes informationpertaining to the content selection and selects assets for insertioninto that content from a national asset database and/or a local assetdatabase, as illustrated in FIG. 3. The COD asset insertion decisionsystem 101 may do so based in part on the campaigns of the assetproviders 130 and in a manner that provides value to the contentproviders.

It should also be noted that the auction system 109 and the COD assetinsertion decision system 101 may be implemented in a variety of ways asa matter of design choice. For example, the COD asset insertion decisionsystem 101 may be implemented on a computing device such as a computerserver that is operable to connect to the Internet and communicate withthe asset providers 103 and the content distributor 108 to operate in amanner as described above. In this regard, the COD asset insertiondecision system 101 may be operable to communicate with multiple assetproviders 130 as well as multiple content distributors 108 at virtuallythe same time. The auction system 109 may be implemented along with theCOD asset insertion decision system 101 or as a separate device that iscommunicatively coupled to the asset providers 130 and the COD assetinsertion decision system 101.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a process 200 operable with the systems ofFIG. 1. More specifically, the process 200 illustrates exemplary detailsof the interoperability of the auction system 109 and the COD assetinsertion decision system 101 communicating with the content distributor108. In this embodiment, the COD asset insertion decision system 101processes information from the content distributor 108 regarding a CODcontent selection by the CPE 107, in the process element 201. Thisinformation may include a title of the COD content selection, a maturitylevel of the content selection, a time of day of the content selection,a certain demographic to which the content selection is targeted, and/ora variety of other factors which are described in greater detail inother embodiments below.

The auction system 109 receives and processes information about aplurality of assets in campaigns 131 from a plurality of asset providers130, in the process element 202. Again, this information may includedata describing particular assets, such as maturity levels, targeteddemographics, etc., details of which are also described in otherembodiments below. The auction system 109 then provides an auction forasset opportunities in the COD content selections to the asset providers130, in the process element 203. In this regard, the auction system 109receives bids for the asset opportunities, in the process element 204,and then ranks the auctioned assets according to bid, in the processelement 205. The auction system 109 then delivers the winning bids tothe COD asset insertion decision system 101 which in turn further ranksthe assets based at least in part on the COD content selectioninformation and the asset information, in the process element 206. Inother words, the COD asset insertion decision system 101 uses theinformation about the assets and information about the COD contentselection to rank the assets in a manner which provides value to acontent provider of the COD content selection. Various other embodimentsand details are now shown and described in the following figuresbeginning with FIG. 3 illustrating the content provider as a headend102.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an exemplary COD asset insertion decisionsystem 101 operable with a COD system 103 (also known as a “COD backoffice system”) of a headend 102. The headend 102 is generally anysystem operable to receive content for processing and distribution to aCPE 107 (e.g., over a cable television infrastructure or fromsatellite). For example, the headend 102 may receive content fromcontent providers over television signals for distribution to thecustomers of a cable content distributor via the customer premiseequipment (CPE) 107, such as a set-top box (STB), a gaming console, asmart phone, an electronic tablet, a computer, or the like.

To provide the COD content, the headend 102 includes a COD system 103that is operable to provide content to the CPE 107 when desired by thecustomer. For example, the headend 102 may receive the content from thecontent providers and maintain that content within a content database104. The headend 102 may also maintain local assets in a local assetdatabase 105 and national assets in a national asset database 106. Whena particular content is selected by the user of the CPE 107, the COD 103accesses the content database 104 to retrieve the selected content anddeliver that content to the CPE 107. In this regard, the COD 103 is anysystem or device that is operable to deliver video content to the CPE107 when directed by the CPE 107. The databases 104, 105, and 106 areany systems or devices operable to store and maintain data, audio,and/or video for subsequent distribution to the CPE 107. For example,the databases 104, 105, and 106 may be operable within a computer systemthat stores the video and audio (e.g., MPEG) content and assets suchthat they may be accessed by the COD 103 and delivered to the CPE 107when desired by the user of such.

To illustrate the insertion of assets into content, FIG. 4 shows anexemplary timing diagram of content 110 interlaced with asset timeslots111, also known as “break positions”. When the COD 103 receives amessage from the CPE 107 for the content 110, the COD 103 retrieves thecontent 110 from the content database 104. The content 110, in thisembodiment, is divided into two segments 110-1 and 110-2 with timeslots111 disposed at the front end of the content 110-1 (i.e., timeslot 111-1at the pre roll position), in between the content segments 110-1 and110-2 (i.e., timeslot 111-2 at the mid roll position), and at the end ofthe content segment 110-2 (i.e., timeslot 111-3 at the post rollposition). Each timeslot 111 is divided into two asset placementtimeslots 112 (i.e., asset placement opportunities), each of which beingcapable for accepting an asset that is typically, but not always, 30seconds in duration. Thus, a placement opportunity is generally a subsetof time of a particular timeslot 111. The COD asset insertion decisionsystem 101 directs the COD 103 to insert the assets according to aparticular ranking that provides value for the content provider (e.g.,monetary value, enhanced relationships with asset providers, etc.). Inthis regard, the COD asset insertion decision system 101 may direct theCOD 103 to select assets from the national asset database 106 and/or thelocal asset database 105 for insertion into the asset timeslots112-1-112-6 based on the ranking provided by the COD asset insertiondecision system 101.

The invention is not intended to be limited to the COD asset insertiondecision system 101 merely providing direction to the COD 103 forselection of various assets in a local asset database 105 and thenational asset database 106. In one particular embodiment, the COD assetinsertion decision system 101 is communicatively coupled to a contentprovider so as to receive instructions regarding various campaigns fromasset providers on a national level. Alternatively or additionally, theCOD asset insertion decision system 101 is communicatively coupled toasset providers to receive and direct insertion of the assets therefrominto the content 110.

Also, the invention is not intended be limited to any particular numberof content segments 110 or any particular number of asset timeslots. Infact, an asset timeslot 112 may be subdivided for insertion of multipleassets. For example, television commercials are typically 30 seconds inlength. Occasionally, however, asset providers reduce the material ofcertain assets to reduce the overall duration of a particular asset(e.g., by removing material from a 30 second commercial to reduce it toa 15 second commercial). Accordingly, a 30 second asset timeslot 112 maybe configured to accept insertions of two 15 second assets. For example,in FIG. 4, the content 110 may be configured with the mid roll timeslot111-2 having two 30 second asset timeslots 112-3 and 112-4. The assettimeslot 112-3 can thus be further divided into two 15 second assettimeslots 112-3-1 and 112-3-2, allowing for the insertion of two 15second assets into the asset timeslot 112-3. Still, the invention is notintended to be limited to any particular asset duration, asset timeslot112 duration, or timeslot 111 duration as such may be configured to meetcertain business and/or technical needs.

It should be noted that the decisions regarding the direction of assetinsertions occur quite rapidly. For example, the COD asset insertiondecision system 101 may be operable to make asset insertion decisionsfor a plurality of headends 102. And, each headend 102 may be operableto provide COD content to a plurality of CPEs 107 at any given time,possibly thousands or more. Thus, when a COD content selection is madeby a particular CPE 107, the COD asset insertion decision system 101responds in substantially real time to ensure that the COD 103 has ampletime to retrieve and insert the assets while processing the contentselected by the CPE 107.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the COD asset insertion decision system 101and the auction system 109 exemplarily interacting with the assetproviders 130. In this embodiment, the asset providers 130 have variouscampaign strategies (e.g., rules) employing their various assets. Forexample, the asset provider 130-1 is illustrated with two campaigns131-1 and 131-2, each comprising a certain number of assets with eachcampaign being associated with a particular strategy. The asset provider130-n has a single campaign 131-n with one asset associated with itsstrategy. A campaign manager 135 interfaces with the asset providers 130so as to extract information pertaining to each asset providers'individual campaigns. This campaign information is communicated to theauction system 109 such that it can form an auction for assetopportunities in COD content selections. The campaign information mayalso be communicated to the COD asset insertion decision system 101 suchthat it may perform the asset ranking and exclusion processes describedherein. Thus, the campaign manager 135 is any system, device, software,or combination thereof operable to interface with asset providers 130 toreceive and process information pertaining to campaigns and assets ofthe asset providers.

To illustrate, the COD asset insertion decision system 101 receives (1)information pertaining to a COD content selections. The COD assetinsertion decision system 101 sends the information about the CODcontent selections (e.g. presently selected COD content selections or a“batch” of COD content that may be selected in the future) to theauction system 109 such that it can generate (3) an auction for assetplacement opportunities for the asset providers 130. The campaignmanager 135 conveys (4) bids for the asset placement opportunities suchthat the auction system 109 can compute (5) the winning bids and conveythat information to the COD asset insertion decision system 101.Generally, the campaign manager 135 also provides the asset informationpertaining to the campaigns 131-1-131-n to the COD asset insertiondecision system 101 such that the COD asset insertion decision system101 can rank/exclude (6) assets from a particular COD content selection.

As discussed, the auction may be for a present COD content selection ora batch of COD content to be selected. For example, a particular CODcontent may be selected by the CPE 107. Based on a title, a maturitylevel, a time of day, etc., the auction system 109 may convey thatinformation to the campaign manager 135 such that the asset providers130 may bid to insert assets from their various asset campaigns 131 intoasset placement opportunities of that particular COD content when theCOD content is selected by the CPE 107.

Alternatively or additionally, information about a particular CODcontent may be presented by the auction system 109 to the campaignmanager 135 such that the asset providers 130 may bid to insert assetsfrom their various asset campaigns 135 any time that particular CODcontent is selected. For example, the auction manager 109 may offer thetelevision show “Breaking Bad” as a COD content selection for bidding onasset placement opportunities in the COD content selection. The auctionsystem 109 may present the title of that show, actors of that show(e.g., Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, etc.), the maturity level of thatshow, and/or other information to the campaign manager 135, offeringthat COD content for a certain period of time. In other words, the assetproviders 130 may bid to have their assets placed in asset opportunitiesany time that COD content is selected by a CPE 107 during apredetermined period of time (e.g., a week, a day, etc.). Other detailsregarding information pertaining to the COD content selections and theassets are shown and described below.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an exemplary COD asset insertion decisionsystem 101. In this embodiment, the COD asset insertion decision system101 includes an interface 154, an asset qualification module (AQM) 151,an asset ranking module (ARM) 152, and an asset conflict resolutionmodule (ACRM) 153. The interface 154 is any device or system operable toreceive information pertaining to a content selection by a CPE 107 suchthat the COD asset insertion decision system 101 may direct assetinsertion into the selected content. In this regard, the interface 154may also be operable to transfer information to the COD 103 to directthe COD 103 to insert certain assets from the national asset database106 and/or the local asset database 105.

The AQM 151 is any device or system operable to communicate with theinterface 154 to initially qualify assets for insertion within thecontent. The AQM 151 may exclude certain assets from insertion into thecontent selected by the CPE 107. The ARM 152 is any device or systemoperable to rank the remaining assets (i.e., those not already excludedby the AQM 151) for insertion to the content 110. The ACRM 153 is anydevice or system operable to remove any ranked assets from insertioninto the content 110 based on conflicts between assets. For example, theACRM 153 may determine that assets from certain advertisers conflictwith one another (e.g., Coke and Pepsi). Accordingly, the ACRM 153 maybe operable to prevent assets from these advertisers from being insertedwithin a same timeslot 111 or even within a same content 110. Theexemplary operations of the AQM 151, the ARM 152, and the ACRM 153 areexplained in greater detail below.

FIG. 7 is an exemplary message diagram of a COD asset insertion decisionsystem 101. Generally, this messaging operation occurs once the auctionis complete and the auction system 109 conveys a list of assetsassociated with winning bids to the COD asset insertion system 101. Fromthere, the COD asset insertion system 101 may further rank the assetswhen a COD content selection is made by a CPE 107. For example,initiation of the COD asset insertion begins when a CPE 107 selects aparticular content provided by the content distributor (e.g., one thathas been previously auctioned by the auction system 109). The CPE 107transfers a content request to the COD 103 which in turn retrieves thecontent from the content database 104. The COD 103 may also retrieveactive campaigns from the national asset database 106 and/or the localasset database 105 according to winning bids of the auction. Again, eachasset provider may generate an advertising campaign with one or morecampaign items. Each of these campaign items may be associated with oneor more assets of the asset provider designating the desired time, date,content, audience/demographic, etc., for which the assets are to beinserted into selected COD content. The COD 103 may retrieve the activecampaigns of the asset providers based on the auction and generate anasset insertion request for the AQM 151 of the COD asset insertiondecision system 101.

Upon receiving the request, the AQM 151 may determine certain parametersrelating to the placement of the assets. For example, the AQM 151 maydetermine durations of the assets and various placement opportunitiesfor the assets (i.e., appropriate timeslots within the selectedcontent). The AQM 151 may also process the active campaigns to determinetheir eligibility within the content to generate a list for the ARM 152such that the ARM 152 may rank and select eligible campaigns from thatlist. In doing so, the AQM 151 may exclude certain campaigns from thelist based on various criteria, such as whether the asset providerand/or the asset itself are valid and whether the insertionopportunities themselves are valid. An embodiment of the AQM 151 isexemplarily shown in greater detail below in FIGS. 8-11.

Once the ARM 152 receives the eligible campaign list, the ARM 152 ranksthe various campaign items that include assets of the campaigns forinsertion into the content selected by the CPE 107. The ARM 152 may rankthe campaign items based on, among other things, their value to thecontent provider and/or the content distributor, the strategy of thecampaign, and the priority of the campaign. An embodiment of the ARM 152is exemplarily shown and described in greater detail below in FIG. 12.The ranked list of eligible campaign items is then generated andtransferred to the ACRM 153 which determines whether any conflicts existamong the ranked campaign items. The ACRM 153 excludes certain assets ofcampaigns from insertion when they conflict with others in the contentselected by the CPE 107. For example, when one campaign conflicts withanother campaign in the list for a particular selected content, theasset of the higher ranked campaign may be inserted into the contenteffectively excluding the lower-ranked campaign from that content. Anembodiment of the ACRM 153 is exemplarily shown and described below inFIGS. 13 and 14.

Once the ACRM 153 removes conflicts from the ranked list of possiblecampaigns, the ACRM 153 transfers the final placement of the assetswithin the content to the COD 103, which in turn inserts the assets intothe timeslots of the selected content. The COD 103 may then retrieve theassets from the local asset database 105 and/or the national assetdatabase 106 for insertion of the assets into the selected content. Withthe assets inserted into the selected content, the COD 103 transfers thecontent and assets to the CPE 107 for presentation to the user thereof.Alternatively, the COD 103 may place assets while the COD contentselection is running.

Generally, after the content is delivered to the CPE 107 with theinserted assets, the COD asset insertion decision system 101 reports theinsertion (e.g., to the headend 102, the content providers 120, and/orthe asset providers 121) and recomputes and/or synchronizes campaignsfor another content selection by a CPE 107. For example, once certaingoals have been met for a particular campaign, the achieved goals maylower the ranking of that campaign or even exclude it from futureinsertions in selected COD content. Accordingly, the COD asset insertiondecision system 101 may retain information pertaining to the insertionof assets for use in determining subsequent asset insertions.

In one embodiment, the COD asset insertion decision system 101 mayreceive information from the headend 102 indicative of actual views ofthe inserted assets. For example, the headend 102 may be operable toaccess a CPE 107 to determine when a COD content selection is stoppedsuch that a portion of the asset insertions are not seen by the viewerof the content selection. This information may be transferred back tothe COD asset insertion decision system 101 such that the campaign dataof those non-viewed assets can be compensated or corrected. In otherwords, when assets are inserted into COD content selections and they arenot viewed because of some action on the part of the viewer, such asstopping or fast forwarding the COD content selection, the campaigns ofthose assets should not be influenced. Accordingly, the COD assetinsertion decision system 101 may take this information intoconsideration and recompute how close the campaign is to meeting itstargeted goal for views.

Additionally, the COD asset insertion decision system 101 mayperiodically synchronize a database storing information of theinsertions for use as a failsafe and/or to reduce (e.g., minimize) thenumber of accesses to the database. For example, a database may be usedto store campaign data of the assets to ensure that the asset insertiondecision system 101 does not over use the assets. The asset insertiondecision system 101 may access this database each time a request forasset insertion is received. To reduce the number of processer intensiveaccesses to the database, the asset insertion decision system 101 mayrecord a list of assets that are inserted and then operate off that listfor directing subsequent insertions. After some period of time, the CODasset insertion decision system 101 may access the database andrepopulate it with the recorded insertions such that campaign data isrefreshed. Also, in the event of a failure to communicate with thedatabase, the headend 102, the content providers 120, and/or the assetproviders 121 regarding how and when to perform asset assertions, theCOD asset insertion decision system 101 may operate from the list andrepopulate the database once it becomes available.

It should be noted that the invention is not intended to be limited toany particular messaging format. In some embodiments, the COD assetinsertion decision system 101 interacts with the COD 103 using thestandards established by the Society of Cable Television Engineers(SCTE). In other embodiments, the COD asset insertion decision system101 interacts with the COD 103 using an Entertainment IdentifierRegistry (EIDR). EIDR provides a manner in which content and assets maybe “tagged” with unique identifiers that are operable to distinguish thecontent and assets from one another. For example, content and assetsgenerally have associated metadata to distinguish themselves from oneanother based on various aspects, such as age, maturity level, actors,products, and the like. EIDR identifiers are generally capable ofincorporating this metadata to provide a compact means for uniquelytagging the content and assets for rapid identification due in part toits central registration. That is, each particular content and asset isidentified with a unique EIDR identifier that is maintained by centralregistration system so that individual headends and the like may quicklyidentify and use the registered content and assets.

To provide more context to the operations of the COD asset insertiondecision system 101, the following example is provided.

The CPE 107 selects a particular episode of the television show “30Rock” at 8 pm on a Thursday night from a menu of COD content that ispresented by the COD 103. The COD 103 retrieves that episode of 30 Rockfrom the content database 104. The COD 103 then retrieves certain assetsfrom the national asset database 106 for insertion into the timeslots ofthat show. As with many other 30 minute situational comedies, thisepisode of 30 Rock includes two content sections 110-1 and 110-2 and thethree timeslots 111-1, 111-2, and 111-3, as illustrated in FIG. 4. Usingthis example, the COD 103 transfers an asset insertion request to theAQM 151 to insert assets into these three timeslots. The AQM 151 thendetermines that there are a total of six 30 second asset placementopportunities within three timeslots 111-1-3 of the selected content110. The AQM 151 then processes the active campaigns to determine theireligibility within those six 30 second asset placement opportunities.Among the active campaigns in this example are:

1. A Coca-Cola campaign with a total of four assets and 3 campaign itemsdirecting placement opportunities of those assets as follows:

a) Asset 1 for 100 views anytime;

b) Asset 2 for any viewing opportunities Monday through Friday betweenthe hours of 5 pm and 10 pm; and

c) Assets 3 and 4 for any viewing opportunities Friday and Saturdaybetween the hours of 5 pm and 10 pm.

2. A Pepsi-Cola campaign with a total of five assets and four campaignitems directing placement opportunities of those assets as follows:

a) Asset 1 for 20 views anytime;

b) Asset 2 for 100 views anytime;

c) Asset 3 for 1000 views anytime;

d) Asset 4 for any viewing opportunities Monday through Friday betweenthe hours of 5 pm and 10 pm; and

e) Asset 5 for any viewing opportunities Friday and Saturday between thehours of 5 pm and 10 pm.

3. A Capital One credit card campaign with a total of four assets andthree campaign items directing placement opportunities of those assetsas follows:

a) Asset 1 for 100 views anytime;

b) Asset 2 for 1000 views anytime; and

c) Assets 3 and 4 for any viewing opportunities Monday through Fridaybetween the hours of 5 pm and 10 pm.

4. A Chrysler Motors campaign with a total of three assets and twocampaign items directing placement opportunities of those assets asfollows:

a) Asset 1 for 100 views; and

b) Assets 2 and 3 for any viewing opportunities Monday through Fridaybetween the hours of 5 pm and 10 pm.

5. A Nickelodeon campaign with one asset and one campaign item directingplacement opportunities of that asset as follows:

a) Asset 1 for 100 views.

Since the television show 30 Rock has a mature theme and since theNickelodeon campaign is directed towards a younger audience, thatcampaign item is automatically excluded from the eligible campaign listby the AQM 151. Other remaining campaign items are excluded based ontime and date (i.e., campaign items 1c and 2e).

Thus the remaining campaigns of 1a-1b, 2a-2d, 3a-c, 4a-4b aretransferred to the ARM 152 for ranking. Based on various factorsexplained in greater detail below, the ARM 152 ranks the campaigns asfollows:

1. Campaign Item 2a

2. Campaign Item 1a

3. Campaign Item 3c

4. Campaign Item 2b

5. Campaign Item 4b

6. Campaign Item 4a

7. Campaign Item 1b

8. Campaign Item 1d

9. Campaign Item 2c

10. Campaign Item 1c

11. Campaign Item 2d

12. Campaign Item 3a

13. Campaign Item 3b

The ARM 152 transfers this ranked list of campaign items to the ACRM 153to determine conflicts within the ranked list of campaign items.Typically, the six available asset placement opportunities 112-1-6within the content 110 would be filled by the first six campaign itemsbased on a rank determined by the ARM 152. However, since some conflictsmay exist between campaigns within a particular content and/or timeslot,certain campaigns may be excluded from the placement opportunities 112such that the ranking is reordered. For example, certain criteria maydictate that a Pepsi Cola asset may not be placed within the samecontent as a Coca-Cola asset. In this regard, the campaign items 1a-1dare removed from the ranked list because the Pepsi-Cola asset has thehigher initial ranking, leaving the following campaign items:

1. Campaign Item 2a

2. Campaign Item 3c

3. Campaign Item 2b

4. Campaign Item 4b

5. Campaign Item 4a

6. Campaign Item 2c

7. Campaign Item 2d

8. Campaign Item 3a

9. Campaign Item 3b

With this computed, the ACRM 153 may remove the final three campaignitems 7, 8, and 9 from the list as the six placement opportunities canbe filled with assets. The ACRM 153 then transfers this informationregarding asset placement to the COD 103. This general embodiment of themessaging may be implemented in any of the above COD asset insertiondecision system embodiments for use in directing the insertion of assetswithin the content. Other more specific embodiments are shown below.

FIGS. 8, 10, and 11 are exemplary flowcharts of an AQM 151 within a CODasset insertion decision system 101. FIG. 8 represents the initialreception of a COD placement request and the validation process of theselected COD content, the CPE 107, and the content provider. FIG. 8 alsoillustrates the validation process of placement opportunities of assetswithin the selected COD content to determine whether any placementopportunities exist. FIG. 9 is an exemplary message diagram of theflowchart of FIG. 8. FIG. 10 represents the qualification process ofcampaigns to determine whether assets of those campaigns can be placedwithin the selected COD content. FIG. 11 represents the evaluationprocess of individual assets within the campaigns.

Returning to FIG. 8, the AQM 151 receives a COD placement request in theprocess element 301. The COD placement request originates from the COD103 and directs the COD asset insertion decision system 101 to beginidentifying assets for placement into a particular COD content selectedby the CPE 107. The COD placement request includes information such asthe date, time, and rating of the content selected as well as theaddress of the CPE 107 selecting the content (e.g., physical address,MAC address, etc.). The AQM 151 upon receiving the COD placement requestmakes a series of decisions which ultimately results in asset placementsfor the selected COD content. Failure in the initial decisions resultsin an error, E1, that precludes placement of an asset, in the processelement 316. If the error occurs, the AQM 151 provides a response to theCOD 103 generating the COD placement request, in the process element317.

Otherwise, the AQM 151 determines whether the placement request isproperly formatted, in the process element 302. For example, messagingformats among content providers are varied. As part of a means forsimplifying the communication for asset placement, the COD assetinsertion decision system 101 may standardize the format of CODplacement requests from content providers. In one embodiment, theinterface 154 of the COD asset insertion decision system 101 receivesmessages from the CODs of different content providers and formats theminto the COD placement request such that content providers who are notaffiliated with the COD asset insertion decision system 101 may berejected according to improperly formatted COD placement request. Inother words, the formatting of the COD placement request may act as aform of security to prevent unauthorized content providers from seekingaccess to the COD asset insertion decision system 101. Although theformatting by the COD asset insertion decision system 101 may beimplemented as a matter of design choice, one manner of formattingincludes the Web Services Description Language (WSDL). WSDL is anExtensible Markup Language, or WL, format for describing networkservices as a set of endpoints operating on messages containing eitherdocument-oriented or procedure-oriented information. The operations andmessages are described abstractly and then bound to a particular networkprotocol and message format to define an endpoint. Related endpoints arecombined into abstract endpoints, or services. The extensibility of WSDLgenerally allows for the description of endpoints and their messagesregardless of what message formats or network protocols are used tocommunicate.

The AQM 151 then determines whether the message ID and version arevalid, in the process element 303. For example, as another securityfeature, the COD asset insertion decision system 101 may assign messageidentifiers to each authorized content provider with version numbers toensure that unauthorized content providers do not access the COD assetinsertion decision system 101. The version numbers may be useful inassuring that authorized content providers accounts are up to date. Thatis, even though a content provider may be authorized to access the CODasset insertion decision system 101, they may not be able to requestplacement of assets in their COD content because they have beentemporarily restricted (e.g., due to failures of payment, assets beingdeemed inappropriate, etc.).

Once the AQM 151 validates the message ID and version of the CODplacement request, the AQM 151 validates the client and target codewithin the COD placement request. For example, information regarding theCPE 107 may indicate whether the CPE 107 is authorized to receive CODcontent. Based on this information, the AQM 151 may validate the CPE 107and verify that the target of the selected COD content is indeed thatCPE 107. After doing so, the AQM 151 may identify the local date andtime of the CPE 107 (e.g., to identify when assets may run in theselected content). The AQM 151 then validates the terminal address ofthe CPE 107. To illustrate, a stolen CPE 107 may appear as an authorizedCPE. However, since that stolen CPE 107 has changed locations, theterminal address of that CPE has also changed due to its connection to anew cable link. Accordingly, the AQM 151 verifies that the CPE 107 isindeed located where it is supposed to be located. Alternatively, thisfunctionality may be configured within the headend 102.

Afterwards, the AQM 151 identifies the originating Asset DecisionManager (ADM) and Content Information Service (CIS) of the COD 103 andthen determines whether the ADM is valid, in the process elements 307and 308. For example, SCTE standard 104 (SCTE-104) defines an interfacebetween automation systems and compression systems that encode a digitalvideo stream (e.g., an MPEG stream of content) at the headend 102. UsingSCTE-104, the automation system provides instructions and metadata fromwhich a compression system creates SCTE standard 35 messages as privatedata packets in the digital video stream. SCTE standard 130 (SCTE-130)defines an architecture for communication and interoperation amongvarious systems employed in cable television advertising. Based on thisstandard, the interface to campaign management is the Asset DecisionService (ADS) and the interface to an asset insertion system is the ADM.The standard also includes a CIS that defines services for subscriberinformation and placement opportunities within content to supportinventory exchange.

Various vendor systems at the headend 102 perform the actual contractmanagement, cue message detections, and add insertions. SCTE-130 definesthe interface that isolates the details of each vendor's system and actsas a front-end through which other systems provide and consumecooperating services. The ADS determines how assets are combined withcontent. The ADM defines messages in support of asset insertionactivities. The primary consumer of these messages is the ADS. Themessage interfaces exposed by the ADM allow for preconfigured assetdecisions and real-time asset fulfillment models. An ADM may incorporatesome rudimentary asset selection rules, such as asset rotation, but morecomplex asset decisions are the responsibility of the ADS. The CISmanages metadata describing the assets, advertising and non-advertising,that are available to the other logical services defined by SCTE-130.The CIS provides query and notification interfaces to these logicalservices. The query service is available on an ad-hoc basis and may becalled by any other logical service at any time without any priorregistration. Queries specify values or patterns to be sought in thequery message metadata and the specified matching information isreturned in a response message.

Once the ADM is identified, the AQM 151 validates the ADM to ensure thatit is authorized to access the COD asset insertion decision system 101,in the process element 308. After validation, the AQM 151 identifies theasset based on its programmer and asset identifier (the “PAID”), in theprocess element 309, to determine whether the asset provider is validand active (process element 310) and whether the asset from thatprovider is valid (process element 311). For example, the AQM 151 mayindependently verify the existence of each asset at each operatorlocation. To verify the distribution status of assets, the AQM 151 mayemploy SCTE-130 part 4 (SCTE-130-4) pertaining to CIS logicalinterfaces. Thus, the AQM 151 may query each operator CIS endpoint usingthe unique ID of each asset and the provider's unique programmer ID, orPAID. An example of this message flow is illustrated in FIG. 9.

In this embodiment, the AQM 151 is initiated to check the status of anasset such as when the interface 154 of the COD asset insertion decisionsystem 101 receives the COD placement request 301. The AQM 151 generatesand transfers a request to check the asset status (i.e., the PAID) to aSCTE-130-4 interface 320 of the COD 103. The COD 103 in turn generatesand transfers a content query request to a CIS 321 of the COD 103. TheCIS 321 then sends a request to retrieve the asset status from backoffice systems 322 of the COD 103 (e.g., the data bases 105 and 106).For example, the back office systems 322 may determine whether the assetis available, unavailable, or its availability is unknown. The status isthen returned to the CIS 321 and transferred to the interface 320 in acontent query response. The interface 320 informs the AQM 151 of thisasset status such that the AQM 151 can determine whether such an assetplacement would be valid. If it is not valid, the AQM 151 returns theerror response E1 as in other instances and then updates the assetavailability. If the asset is valid, its status is also updated suchthat it may be used for placement in content (i.e., an asset placementtimeslot).

With the asset identified and validated, the AQM 151 may then identifyplacement opportunities within the content selected by the CPE 107, inthe process element 312. For example, the content may have certaindesignated placement opportunities for the assets. The number, orcounts, of these timeslots and their durations are used by the AQM 151to assist in the selection and placement of assets. The AQM 151 may alsoidentify and use any control information associated with timeslots thatcould restrict certain assets. In identifying these placementopportunities, the AQM 151 validates whether the content selected by theCPE 107 has placement opportunities for the assets and what that numberis, in the process element 313. If so, the AQM 151 validates whether theplacement opportunities are of the appropriate type, in the processelement 314. As mentioned, placement opportunities may include controlinformation or metadata that restricts certain assets from being placedwithin a selected content. For example, age control information ofselected content may be used to restrict certain assets from beingplaced within that content based on age (e.g., COD children's showshaving control information that restricts assets with more maturecontent and vice versa). If the opportunity times within the content arevalid, the AQM 151 determines whether any placement opportunities arestill available within the content selected by the CPE 107, in theprocess element 315.

After the validation process is complete, the AQM 151 qualifiescampaigns to determine whether assets of those campaigns can be placedwithin the selected COD content, as illustrated in FIG. 10. In doing so,the AQM 151 retrieves and loads a list of active campaign items, in theprocess element 352. For example, the AQM 151 may contact the COD 103via the SCTE-130-4 messaging above to access the active campaigns withinthe local asset database 105 and/or the national asset database 106 todetermine asset campaigns that are active at the headend 102. Once thelist of active campaigns has been retrieved, the AQM 151 determineswhether there are any campaign items that are available. If not, the AQM151 generates an empty placement, in the process element 363, and aresponse to the COD 103 originating the COD placement request 301, inthe process element 364. For example, if no campaign items are availablefor asset placement but placement opportunities actually exist withinthe content selected by the CPE 107, the AQM 151 may leave the placementopportunities open for the headend 102 to insert assets within theselected COD content as desired or direct the auction system 109 toperform an auction for the asset opportunities. In some instances, theAQM 151 may even recommend placement of a noncommercial asset, such asan asset advertising the regular date and time for viewing content froma network (e.g., advertising relating to television programming for aparticular TV show).

If campaign items are available for asset placement within the placementopportunities of the content selected by the CPE 107, the AQM 151evaluates the campaign items in the process element 354. In doing so,the AQM 151 validates the day/time conditions of a campaign item in theprocess element 355 to ensure that a particular asset in the campaignitem is appropriate for the date and time when the COD content isselected by the CPE 107. For example, a commercial for a mature audiencemay not be appropriate for viewing until later evening hours whenchildren are not present. Thus, if the COD content is selected duringthe afternoon, the AQM 151 may exclude the campaign item containing themature audience commercial from placement within the selected CODcontent. Similarly, if the commercial is intended for children, theinformation within the campaign item asset may not be relevant to a moremature audience. Thus, if the COD content is selected during the lateevening when children are not present, the AQM 151 may exclude thecampaign item from placement within that selected COD content. So, whenthe campaign item does not meet the valid date/time conditions, the AQM151 removes the campaign item from potential insertion into the selectedCOD content, in the process element 360. The AQM 151 then determineswhether there are any available campaigns remaining from the loaded listof active campaign items, in the process element 361. If there are noavailable campaigns, the AQM 151 generates an empty placement, in theprocess element 363 (E2), as described above, and responds to the COD103, in the process element 364. For example, once the AQM 151 evaluatesall of the campaign items and excludes all of those campaign items inthe process element 354, the AQM 151 then determines if there are anycampaigns left for potential placement in the selected COD content. Ifthere are none, the AQM 151 may generate an empty response and contactthe COD 103 such that the COD 103 may place an asset in the selected CODcontent as desires or leave it empty. Otherwise, the AQM 151 transfersthe information pertaining to the remaining campaigns, items, and assetsto the ARM 152 (B1).

In continuing the evaluation of campaign items, in the process element354, the AQM 151 validates the metadata conditions of a campaign item,in the process element 356. For example, assets generally have metadataassociated with them that describe certain features of the asset, suchas a particular actor in the asset, the theme of the asset, targetedaudience for the asset, maturity level of the asset, etc. In oneembodiment, these metadata features are contained in an EIDR identifieras discussed above. If the assets of the campaign item being evaluateddo not meet the desired metadata conditions for the selected CODcontent, that campaign item is removed from consideration, in theprocess element 360. To illustrate, the actor Alec Baldwin has been seenin several Capital One credit card commercials. A campaign item by theCapital One credit card company may wish to have those commercialsinserted into the certain COD content featuring Alec Baldwin as anactor, such as the television show, 30 Rock. Thus, if the selected CODcontent does not include Alec Baldwin, that campaign item may beexcluded from potential insertion into the selected COD content.Alternatively or additionally, if the COD content requires assets of acertain type, the metadata of the assets may be used to exclude theassets from the content. For example, if the content precludes maturecontent, campaign items having assets with mature themes may be excludedfrom the selected COD content based on the metadata of the assetsrelating to maturity level.

The AQM 151 is also operable to validate break/position conditions ofthe COD content selected by the CPE 107, in the process element 357. Forexample, if the selected COD content has only 30 second pre roll andpost roll timeslots available for asset insertions and the campaign itemmandates that the asset be placed at the mid roll timeslot in a CODcontent, then the campaign item is excluded and removed in the processelement 360.

Once the various conditions for the campaign items have been validated,the AQM 151 then evaluates the individual assets in a particularcampaign, in the process element 358. An example of such is shown anddescribed in greater detail in FIG. 11. From there, the AQM 151determines if there are any remaining goals of a particular campaign. Ifso, the AQM 151 returns to evaluate the remaining campaign items in thecampaign (e.g., via process elements 355-358). For example, a campaignmay include a campaign item that desires 1000 views of an asset within acertain time period (e.g., a week). Once the asset has been insertedinto COD content 1000 times within that time period, the goal has beenreached and the campaign item and/or the asset may be excluded frominsertion to the presently selected COD content and thus removed fromconsideration, in the process element 360. In other words, once a goalfor a campaign item has been met, it may provide little or no value tothe MSO or the content provider. Accordingly, the AQM 151 may excludethe campaign item from consideration so that other more valuablecampaign items may be selected. Examples of campaign goals includecampaign duration (e.g., % completion thereof), total number of desiredplacements, and the like. Otherwise, the AQM 151 adds the campaign itemto a list of remaining available campaign items in the process element362 and continues determining the availability of campaign items, in theprocess element 353 (B2), to evaluate the campaign items for possibleinsertion to the selected COD content.

FIG. 11 is an exemplary flowchart illustrating how the AQM 151 evaluatesindividual assets of a campaign item in the process element 358 (C1).The AQM 151 initiates this process by determining whether there are anyremaining assets within a particular campaign item. As mentioned,individual campaign items may include multiple assets. Thus, if oneasset of a campaign item being evaluated is excluded from insertion,another asset of that same campaign item still may be used. If no assetsremain for insertion, the campaign item is removed from consideration,in the process element 360. To illustrate, a selected COD content may behigh-definition (HD) format. Accordingly, the AQM 151 may validate thevideo definition of the asset, in the process element 381, to determinewhether the asset is formatted in HD. If not, the AQM 151 returns todetermine whether there are any assets remaining in the campaign item,in the process element 380. If there are no other assets remaining, thenthe campaign item is removed in the process element 360.

The AQM 151 is also operable to determine whether an asset is availableon the ADM, in the process element 382. For example, the assets arestored in the local asset database 105 and the national asset database106. These assets are periodically updated as advertisers wish to updatetheir various campaigns with newer assets. Older assets may be removedfrom the databases making them unavailable for insertion. Thus, even ifthe older asset exists in the campaign item, that asset is not availablefor insertion because it does not physically exist in the databases 105and 106. Accordingly, the AQM 151 removes the asset from considerationand returns to evaluating the remaining assets of the campaign item.

The AQM 151 may also be operable to determine whether an asset isavailable in a target window, in the process element 383. For example,if the asset is only available during a certain time of the day, day ofthe week, etc., and the COD content is selected by the CPE 107 outsideof that time window, then the AQM 151 removes that asset fromconsideration. The AQM 151 may also be operable to determine whether anasset is available in a license window, in the process element 384. Forexample, an asset may physically exist on the local asset database 105or the national asset database 106 and thus be available for insertioninto COD content. However, that asset could include certain licensinginformation that precludes insertion into COD content by the headend 102for any of a variety of reasons (e.g., contractual obligations betweencontent distributor and content provider have ceased). Thus, the assetmay be excluded from insertion into selected COD content based on itslicense window. Once the AQM 151 completes evaluation of the assetswithin a particular campaign item, the AQM 151 returns to continueevaluating the individual campaign items (C2).

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of an exemplary Asset Ranking Module (ARM)152 within the COD asset insertion decision system 101. The ARM 152receives information regarding the campaign assets that are availablefor insertion into the content provided by COD 103. In this embodiment,the ARM 152 includes a priority score module 401, a value score module402, a strategy score module 403, and a goal score module 404. The ARM152 also includes a weight by flexibility module 405. Generally, the ARM152 calculates a total score for each item in a campaign based on apriority score, a value score, a strategy score, a health score, and aflexibility score, etc. For example, the ARM 152 may calculate a totalscore for each of the campaign items based on the function of: (priorityscore+value score+strategy score+health score)/flexibility score. Theparticulars of how each of these scores may be calculated by the ARM 152are discussed in greater detail below.

The priority score module 401 is any device or system operable togenerate priority information for the campaign items provided to the ARM152 by the AQM 151. A priority score relates to a weightedrepresentation of how important a campaign item is in relation to otheritems in a campaign. The priority score module 401 may calculate apriority score for each of the campaign items in a campaign based on thefunction of: (campaign priority value/sum of all priority values for thecampaign items)*(parameter weight/100). For the function, the campaignpriority value is assigned by the manager that creates the campaign. Theparameter weight is a value used to modify how much the priority scorefigures into the total score.

The value score module 402 is any device or system operable to generatevalue score information for the campaign items provided to the ARM 152by the AQM 151. A value score for a campaign item relates to a weightedrepresentation of the income generated by inserting a particularcampaign item into content. The value score module 402 may calculate avalue score for each of the campaign items in a campaign based on thefunction of: ((campaign item value)/(the sum of all values for thecampaign items in the campaign))*(parameter weight/100). For thefunction, the campaign item value is the currency value that is assignedfor the campaign item. The currency value may be paid upon the campaignitem being inserted into the content and/or the campaign item beingviewed by a customer (i.e., a user of the CPE 107). The parameter weightis a value used to modify how much the value score figures into thetotal score.

The strategy score module 403 is any device or system operable togenerate strategy scoring information for the campaign items provided tothe ARM 152 by the AQM 151. A strategy score for a campaign item relatesto a weighted representation of how the campaign item is distributedduring an active campaign. Some examples of how the campaign item may bedistributed include an even distribution, an “as soon as possible(ASAP)” distribution, etc. The strategy score module 403 may calculate astrategy score for each of the campaign items in a campaign based on thefunction of: ((campaign item strategy value)/(the sum of all campaignitems strategy values for the campaign items in thecampaign))*(parameter weight/100). For the function, the campaign itemstrategy value may be “0” for an even distribution and “1” for an ASAPdistribution. Other strategies may exist as any values in between. Theparameter weight is a value used to modify how much the strategy scorefigures into the total score.

The goal score module 404 is any device or system operable to generategoal information for the campaign items provided to the ARM 152 by theAQM 151. A goal score for a campaign item relates to a weightedrepresentation of whether the campaign item is behind schedule, onschedule, or ahead of schedule to meet its goal. The goal score module404 may calculate a goal score for each of the campaign items based onthe function of: ((campaign item health score)/(the sum of all of thecampaign item goal values for each of the campaign items in thecampaign))*(parameter weight/100). The parameter weight is a value usedto modify how much the goal score figures into the total score. Thecampaign item health score may be determined by the function of: ((% ofgoal remaining)/(% of time remaining in the campaign)). The “% of goalremaining” may be determined by the function of: ((the campaign itemgoal−current count))/(campaign item goal). The current count is based onthe insertions or views of the campaign item. The “% of time remaining”may be determined by the function of: (hours remaining for the campaignitem/total hours for the campaign item), where the hours remaining is atime from the current time through the end of the flight window for thecampaign item (e.g., a period of time when the asset is to air). Thetotal hours in the function is the number of hours for the duration ofthe flight window of the campaign item from beginning to end. Someexamples of a goal score are >1 when the campaign is running behindschedule and <1 when the campaign is running ahead of schedule.

The scoring information calculated by modules 401-404 is provided to theweight by flexibility module 405. The weight by the flexibility module405 is any device or system that is operable to generate flexibilityinformation for the campaign items. The flexibility for a campaign itemrelates to a representation of how much flexibility exists for acampaign item for placement into the content. For example, a highlyflexible campaign item may have little or no restrictions as to whattimes and/or where the campaign item is placed within the content. Incontrast, a campaign item with little or no flexibility may berestricted to a few hours per day or to a few days per week. The weightby the flexibility module 405 may calculate a flexibility score for eachof the campaign items based on the function of: (number ofdays/7)*(average hours/24)*(average number of breaks/program breakdefault)*(average number of positions/program position default). In thisfunction, the number of days is the count of unique days of the week thecampaign item is eligible for. For example, if a campaign item iseligible to run Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, then the number of uniquedays is 3. The average hours may be based on the function of: (the sumof the durations of the campaign item/the count item time instances).The “program break default” in the function is a value assigned by acampaign manager that indicates the standard count of breaks in asession. The average number of breaks may be calculated based on thefunction of: (the sum of eligible breaks for all positions)/(a count ofbreak positions). The eligible breaks are determined for each positionas follows. When the break position is pre-roll or post-roll, the breakcount is 1. When the break position for the campaign item is “any”, thenthe break count is “program break default”. When the break position ismid-roll and the mid-roll by number is “null”, then the break count isthe (“program break default”−2). When the break position is mid-roll andthe number is not null, then the break count is 1. The “program positiondefault” in the function is a value assigned by the campaign programmerthat indicates the typical or standard count of positions in a break.The average number of positions may be calculated based on the functionof: (the sum of eligible positions for all breaks)/(the count ofbreaks), where the eligible breaks are determined for each breakcriteria as follows. When the position is first or last, then the breakcount is 1 for the break criteria. When the position is “any”, then thebreak count is “program position default” for the break criteria.

After weight by the flexibility module 405 calculates a flexibilityscore for each of the campaign items, then the priority score, the valuescore, the strategy score, the goal score, and the flexibility score areprovided to a compute rank module 406. The compute rank module 406 isany device or system operable to generate ranking information for thecampaign items. The compute ranking module 406 generates a ranking foreach of the campaign items based on the function of: ((priorityscore+value score+strategy score+goal score)/flexibility score). In somecases, one or more campaign items may have a tie ranking. A computetiebreaker module 407 may utilize a number of other criteria fordetermining ranking in cases where campaign items are tied. Someexamples of the criteria used by the compute tiebreaker module 407include random assignment (e.g., “coin toss” algorithm), policiesregarding preferred campaigns, etc. The ARM 152 then provides the listof campaign items along with their corresponding rankings to the processelement 451 of FIG. 12 (D1) to begin conflict resolution between assets.

It should be noted, that the various scores and flexibility may bereconfigured as a matter of preference and that the above equations aremerely used as exemplary embodiments. For example, an operator of theheadend 102 may intrinsically value certain asset campaigns over othersfor any number of reasons. Accordingly, the operator of the headend 102may direct the COD asset insertion decision system 101 to “hard wire”the campaign priority value to a particular value. If the preference ofthe headend 102 operator were to change, then the operator may directthe COD asset insertion decision system 101 to change the campaignpriority value accordingly. This dynamic change capability allows theARM 152 to provide more flexibility to headends 102 on an as neededbasis.

FIGS. 13 and 14 are exemplary flowcharts of the ACRM 153 within the CODasset insertion decision system 101. These flowcharts illustrate theprocess of excluding assets based on conflicts with other assets andcampaigns after the campaign items have been ranked by the ARM 152(i.e., via D1). The ACRM 153 initially determines whether anyopportunities remain for placement within the COD content selected bythe CPE 107. In other words, the ACRM 153 determines whether thetimeslots of the selected COD content have been filled with assets. Ifsome timeslots remain open, or unfilled, the ACRM 153 proceeds toidentify which timeslot positions remain open and available for assetplacement (e.g., pre-roll, mid-roll, post-roll, etc.), in the processelement 452. If, however, no opportunities for asset placement remain inthe selected COD content, the ACRM 153 may generate and return aresponse to the COD 103, in the process element 364, indicating that noassets will be placed in the selected COD content.

When the time slots for asset placement have been identified in the CODcontent selected by the CPE 107, the ACRM 153 evaluates the campaignitems in rank order (i.e., as ranked by the ARM 152), in the processelement 453. The ACRM 153, as an initial part of a loop process througheach of the ranked campaign items, determines whether any campaignsremain in the list of ranked campaign items from the ARM 152, in theprocess element 454. The ACRM 153 then determines whether a particularcampaign being evaluated is adhering to brand separation, in the processelement 455. For example, some companies prefer that their assets not beplaced near assets of a competitor within the same content, COD contentor otherwise. To illustrate, the Coca-Cola Company may desire that anasset relating to a Coca-Cola beverage not be placed next to aPepsi-Cola asset from the Pepsi-Cola Company so as to show individualityof its particular brand. In other words, the brand of the Coca-Colaasset may become diluted when placed next to a Pepsi-Cola asset becausethe audience may simply equate the two brands as interchangeable colaproducts. Thus, if a campaign item being evaluated does not adhere to acertain level of brand separation, the ACRM 153 excludes the assets ofthe campaign item from insertion and searches for another campaign amongthe ranked list, in the process element 454. If the campaign item doesadhere to brand separation, the ACRM 153 starts a loop to evaluate theindividual assets in the campaign item, in the process element 457 (F1),by first determining whether any assets remain in the campaign item, inthe process element 456. In other words, the ACRM 153 loops through theassets in each campaign item to determine their potential for insertioninto the selected COD content. An example of the evaluation ofindividual assets is illustrated in FIG. 14, shown and described below.Once the asset(s) of the campaign item being evaluated has also beenevaluated, the asset(s) is placed in a list that directs the selectionof the asset(s) for insertion to the selected COD content. Afterwards,the ACRM 153 returns to the process element 456 to loop through theremaining assets of the campaign item. If no assets remain in thecampaign item, the ACRM 153 loops through the evaluation of theindividual campaign items in rank order, in the process element 453.

Once all of the campaign items at each campaign have been evaluated andno campaigns remain (i.e., process 404) or once all of the placementopportunities have been filled, the ACRM 153 directs the COD 103 toretrieve the assets based on the list generated in the process element458. For example, the list may be included in a report message that istransferred to the COD 103 to direct the COD 103 to insert the assetsinto the content selected by the CPE 107. It is possible that all of theassets have been excluded during the processes described herein. Thus,the ACRM 153 may then direct the COD 103 to not place any assets in thecontent selected by the CPE 107. Alternatively, the auction system 109may perform an auction on those empty asset opportunities as describedabove. The ACRM 153 may even direct the COD 103 to place assets from thelocal database 105 and/or the national database 106 into the selectedCOD content as desired. The ACRM 153 may also direct the COD 103 toplace assets relating to content, programming, or even services providedby the content distributor. For example, if no assets remain, standardprogramming information, such as time and date, pertaining to theselected COD content may be configured as an asset and placed in theselected COD content. To further illustrate, when an episode of “ModernFamily” is selected by a CPE 107 and no assets remain for insertion intothe available time slots of that episode, the ACRM 153 may direct theCOD 103 to present the user of the CPE 107 with the date and time whenthe next episode of Modern Family can be seen. However, the invention isnot intended to be limited to any particular type of noncommercialasset.

Since is also possible that not all of the assets in the list may beplaced as there may be more assets than available opportunities, theACRM 153 may weight the assets prior to placement in the selected CODcontent, in the process element 461. For example, certain assets mayprovide greater value to the content provider (e.g., the televisionnetwork). In this regard, the ACRM 153 may rank the remaining assets ina manner that provides the most monetary compensation to the contentprovider. Thus, the ACRM 153 may reduce the list of available assets forinsertion to the amount of opportunities, or timeslots, in the selectedCOD content to provide this value to the content provider. In any case,the ACRM 153 directs the COD 103 to place the assets in the selected CODcontent based on the ranked list, in the process element 462. Onceplacement has been directed, the ACRM 153 generates a placement reportand transfers that report to the headend 102 so that the headend 102 cantrack marketing views (e.g., for later negotiations between contentdistributors and marketers). For example, when a marketer can know howmany views of a particular asset there were in a selected COD content,the marketer can assign a value to that asset that may be used innegotiating price for additional views of the asset in future selectedCOD content.

In FIG. 14, the ACRM 153 loops through the assets in each campaign itemto determine their potential for insertion into the selected COD content(F1). During the evaluation of a particular asset, if the asset fails toqualify for insertion into the selected COD content, the ACRM 153 mayreturn to the process element 456 to determine whether there are anyother assets remaining for evaluation (F4). Otherwise, the ACRM 153continues through a variety of evaluation steps. In this embodiment, theACRM 153 initiates by determining valid break positions within theselected COD content, in the process element 501. For example, an assetmay require insertion into a certain timeslot within the COD content. Ifthat timeslot is not available for the asset, the asset may be excludedfrom consideration. The ACRM 153 may also determine whether there is avalid asset separation of a particular asset, in the process element502. For example, while the brand separation adherence is determined inthe process element 455, certain other assets may require separationwithin COD content. To provide another real-world example, the Coca-ColaCompany may wish to not place an asset pertaining to Coca-Cola productsimmediately next to one another so as to not bombard the user of the CPE107 with multiple advertisements at roughly the same time. Accordingly,the ACRM 153 may ensure that the assets of a particular company,product, etc. are separated within the selected COD content.

The ACRM 153 may also determine whether a particular asset is of theproper duration, in the process element 503. For example, some timeslotswithin COD content are only available in 30 second “chunks”. Thus, ifthe asset under evaluation is only 15 seconds, there would be a periodof 15 seconds of unoccupied airtime in the COD content. The ACRM 153, inthis regard, may then exclude that asset from insertion into theselected COD content. Alternatively, the ACRM 153 may search for another15 second asset within the potential assets for insertion alongside the15 second asset to fully occupy the placement opportunity and preventmissing a placement opportunity in the COD content. The ACRM 153 mayalso determine whether the asset is the correct video definition forinsertion into the COD content, in the process element 504. For example,COD content may vary in terms of definition from selection to selection.Some COD content selections may be of a SD format whereas the assets maybe in an HD format. To ensure that the assets can be placed in theselected COD content and played at the same format of the SD COD contentselection, the ACRM 153 may exclude those HD formatted assets (and viceversa).

As part of an extension to the exclusion process by the AQM 151, theACRM 153 may also be configured to communicate with the ADM to determinewhether the asset is available at the ADM (process element 505), whetherthe assets is available in the target window (process element 506), andwhether the asset is available in the license window (process element507). The process element 457 ends (F2) with the placement of the assetin the list for selection in the process element 458 of FIG. 13.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram depicting a processing system 600 alsooperable to provide the above features by executing programmedinstructions and accessing data stored on a computer readable storagemedium 612. In this regard, embodiments of the invention can take theform of a computer program accessible via the computer-readable medium612 providing program code for use by a computer or any otherinstruction execution system. For the purposes of this description,computer readable storage medium 612 can be anything that can contain,store, communicate, or transport the program for use by a computer.

The computer readable storage medium 612 can be an electronic, magnetic,optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor device. Examples ofcomputer readable storage medium 612 include a solid state memory, amagnetic tape, a removable computer diskette, a random access memory(RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a rigid magnetic disk, and an opticaldisk. Current examples of optical disks include compact disk-read onlymemory (CD-ROM), compact disk-read/write (CD-R/W), and DVD.

The processing system 600, being suitable for storing and/or executingthe program code, includes at least one processor 602 coupled to memoryelements 604 through a system bus 650. Memory elements 604 can includelocal memory employed during actual execution of the program code, bulkstorage, and cache memories that provide temporary storage of at leastsome program code and/or data in order to reduce the number of times thecode and/or data are retrieved from bulk storage during execution.

Input/output (I/O) devices 606 (including but not limited to keyboards,displays, pointing devices, etc.) can be coupled to the processingsystem 600 either directly or through intervening I/O controllers.Network adapter interfaces 608 may also be coupled to the system toenable the processing system 600 to become coupled to other processingsystems or storage devices through intervening private or publicnetworks. Modems, cable modems, IBM Channel attachments, SCSI, FibreChannel, and Ethernet cards are just a few of the currently availabletypes of network or host interface adapters. Presentation deviceinterface 610 may be coupled to the system to interface to one or morepresentation devices, such as printing systems and displays forpresentation of presentation data generated by the processor 602.

While the invention has been illustrated and described in detail in thedrawings and foregoing description, such illustration and description isto be considered as exemplary and not restrictive in character. Certainembodiments described hereinabove may be combinable with other describedembodiments and/or arranged in other ways. Accordingly, it should beunderstood that only the preferred embodiment and variants thereof havebeen shown and described and that all changes and modifications thatcome within the spirit of the invention are desired to be protected.

Additionally, although the term “headend” generally suggests thedistribution center or office of a cable television operator or MSO, theterm is not intended to be so limited. The term headend as used hereinis any system operable to deliver content to a viewer (e.g., a customeror user of the CPE). For example, the term headend may encompassinternet servers delivering COD content when selected by a user from adevice, such as a computer, a tablet, or a mobile phone. A headend mayalso refer to a telecom provider that distributes content to mobilephones and other devices. Also, the term “asset”, as used herein,includes any type of media for which an owner desires promotion.Examples of such include traditional television commercials,advertisements, streaming video commercials, promotional materials,marketing information, and the like. The term “content”, as used herein,is any type of media, such as audio and/or video, in which assets may beinserted. For example, the content operable within the COD deliverysystems described herein may be streamed Internet audio/video, analogcable television feeds, digital cable television feeds, digitalsatellite television feeds, or digital satellite radio feeds. Thus, thecontent of the COD described herein is intended to encompass Video onDemand (VOD) found in modern cable television as well as pay-per-view(PPV) delivered by both modern cable television and satellitetelevision.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system, comprising: a Content On Demand (COD)asset insertion decision system communicatively coupled to a contentdistributer and operable to process information, from the contentdistributer, about COD content selections by Customer Premises Equipment(CPEs); and an auction system communicatively coupled to the COD assetinsertion decision system and to a plurality of asset providers toprocess information about assets of the asset providers, wherein theauction system is operable to provide an auction for asset opportunitiesin the COD content selections, to receive bids for the assetopportunities, and to rank the auctioned assets according to bid,wherein the COD asset insertion decision system is operable to furtherrank the auctioned assets based in part on the COD content selectioninformation and the asset information, to identify one or more of thefurther ranked assets for insertion into the COD content selections, andto direct the content distributer to insert the identified one or moreof the further ranked assets into the COD content selections.